Archival Film of Skipjacks

Gavin Atkin over the pond at intheboatshed recently dug up some archival footage from the 1960’s. Most of it was filmed on and around Deal Island, Maryland, where we spent several days on the Chesapeake Float this year.

The film was shot forty years ago, but it’s amazing how little has changed. Captain Art Daniels is still racing his skipjack, or was until very recently. The churches I photographed are still there, though the one is under repair. Wenona harbor looks much the same, just fewer boats. That and They had enough watermen then to field a softball team.

The sail loft that served the skipjacks was still in operation then, though it’s been closed for several years now. And there are far fewer skipjacks now than there were even then.

Pretty cool to watch

 

Hour long feature film on Skipjacks of Chesapeake Bay

 

 

 

 

Chesapeake Float ~ Day 2 Video

direct Youtube link

A day on the Chesapeake Bay. Fog in the morning. Some wind. Wind dies. Nice wind in the afternoon. Wind dies. Dusk. Wind comes back.

 

 music by

Charlie Parr Clearlake
Al Pettyway & Amy White Up on Flat Top Mountain
Ben Howard Promise 

 

 

 

Chesapeake Float ~ Day 1 Video

 direct Youtube link

 

Video from Day 1. Leaving Dames Quarter, into the Naticoke, the Wicomico, Ellis Bay, Monie Bay, and ending up in Pigeonhouse Creek for the night.

 

music by
Rafael Sotomayor Deustad
Dizzi Dulcimer Dizzi Jig 

 

 

Epic Road Trip ~ the Full Time Lapse

direct youtube link

music links:

Finally had a chance to pull this together. It’s pretty cool to see the whole thing – 3000 miles and four days of driving compressed into about 21 minutes. Any faster and everything becomes a blur. Any slower and it starts to feel like doing the drive all over again. If your web connection will support it, you’ll definitely want to watch it large in HD. Go to the Youtube Link if you have to.

It’s a big country, with much to see. The camera rig and software used to record the trip preserved each frame as a full resolution photo on the iPhone – over 21,000 of them. Many, many individually are simply stunning. Those will fly by like the others, flashing on the screen for 1/12 of a second.

It’s amazing how sensitive memory is to vision. Almost four months later all but the most generic late night road images still bring back immediate recall of that part of the trip. Played at speed in sequence, some significant events go by so fast they are all but invisible – the train wreck, for instance. Others – the ground blizzard in Wyoming, the dust storm in Oregon with tumbleweeds darting across the road – are more prolonged, but far more brief and beautiful than treacherous. The smooth animation belies hours of white knuckle driving endured in real time.

I confess to cheating a bit. To have mercy on less engaged viewers, the long, grey, monotonous drive through winter-dismal Missouri has been accelerated by 400%. Trust me, this is a good thing. Sorry, Missouri. Most of the night driving has been sped up, as well. Otherwise, it’s all here.

Enjoy.

 

 

Epic Road Trip ~ Oregon Dust Storm Video

dust storm in eastern Oregon

 

direct youtube video link

Music by Matthew Mayfield – The Devil Within – The Fire EP

 

 

Epic Road Trip ~ Idaho Video

music is “Sheets” by Damien Jurado, here 

 direct video link

Leaving out of Boise, we head north with the wind, and follow the Snake River all the way to Oregon along the Oregon Trail.

Just before the state line, a double rainbow appears. It’s a natural mirror of the man-made one we saw back in St. Louis, this one a true gateway to the west. Emily takes it as a very good omen, the best welcome sign she could have. She is dancing in the driver’s seat.

 

 

Epic Road Trip ~ Colorado & Wyoming Video

 crossing Colorado and Wyoming – ground blizzard in Wyoming

 

direct video link

 Music:
Peter Biedermann “Circles”
Laurie Lewis “Trees”
 The Whistles and the Bells “Mercy Please”